Ronald Takaki

Transcription

>>AS I SIT HERE IN FRONT OF YOU, I MIGHT LOOK LIKE A PROFESSOR OR EVEN A PHILOSOPHER WITH MY SILVER MANE. BUT I WAS BORN AND I GREW UP IN HAWAII. WHEN I WAS A TEEN-AGER, I WAS NOT THAT ACADEMICALLY INCLINED ACTUALLY. IN FACT, I USED TO BE A SURFER, YES! (LAUGHING) SERIOUS, AND I HAD A NICKNAME. MY NICK NAME WAS TEN TOES TAKAKI. WHEN MY BERKELEY STUDENTS FOUND OUT ABOUT TAKAKI'S HIDDEN PAST, THEY GET VERY CURIOUS, HOW DID A SURFER TURNOUT TO BE A SCHOLAR! WELL, WHAT HAPPENED WAS THIS, DURING MY SENIOR YEAR IN HIGH SCHOOL AND THAT WAS 1957. THINK ABOUT IT! 50 YEARS AGO! I HAD A HIGH SCHOOL TEACHER WHO CHANGED MY LIFE. I CAN REMEMBER ALL OF US GOING INTO HIS CLASS AND ALMOST ALL OF US WERE ASIAN AMERICAN STUDENTS. THIS IS HAWAII, OKAY. AND THIS TEACHER WALKED INTO THE CLASSROOM, AND HE INTRODUCED HIMSELF. HE SAID MY NAME IS DR. SHUNJI NISHI PH.D. AND WE ARE ALL AWED BECAUSE THERE WERE OTHER ASIAN AMERICANS DOCTORS IN HAWAII BUT THEY WERE ALL MD'S. THIS ONE WAS A PH.D. I CAN REMEMBER GOING HOME AND ASKING MY MOTHER A QUESTION. MY MOTHER WHO HAD BEEN BORN ON A SUGAR CANE PLANTATION AND ONLY HAD 8TH GRADE EDUCATION. SHE SAID, MY TEACHER'S NAME IS DR. SHUNJI NISHI PH.D. MOM, WHAT IS A PH.D.? >>SHE SAID I DON'T KNOW. BUT HE MUST BE VERY SMART! I THINK A LIGHT WENT ON IN MY HEAD, MAYBE SOMEDAY, I COULD BECOME RONALD TAKAKI, PH.D. SO I BEGAN STUDYING HARD FOR DR. NISHI, AND DR. NISHI MADE HIS STUDENTS WRITE ESSAYS, SHORT ESSAYS, ONE TWO-PAGE ESSAYS ABOUT THE HUMAN CONDITION AND PROBLEMS OF THE WORLD. EVERY TWO WEEKS WE HAD TO WRITE AN ESSAY FOR DR. NISHI, AND HE WOULD RETURN MY ESSAYS WITH EXTENSIVE MARGINAL COMMENTS. HE WAS A GOOD TEACHER. AND MANY OF HIS MARGINAL COMMENTS ASKED ME EPISTEMOLOGICAL QUESTIONS. EPISTEMOLOGY WHAT IS EPISTEMOLOGY? EPISTEMOLOGY, IS A THEORY OF KNOWLEDGE, IT IS A CRITICAL THINKING SKILL. EPISTEMOLOGY ASKS THE QUESTION, HOW DO YOU KNOW YOU KNOW WHAT YOU KNOW. HOW DO YOU KNOW YOU KNOW OF WHAT YOU KNOW. IN OTHER WORDS, THE HOW OF KNOWING SOMETHING. IT IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE WHAT OF KNOWING SOMETHING. SO A RELATIONSHIP DEVELOPED, BLOSSOMED BETWEEN DR. NISHI AND ME, THROUGH MY ESSAYS AND HIS MARGINAL COMMENTS. AND DURING THE SECOND SEMESTER, AND IT WAS APRIL, I HAD ALREADY BEEN ADMITTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII. SO MY PLAN WAS TO ATTEND THE UNIVERSITY. AS I WAS WALKING ACROSS CAMPUS, DR. NISHI FLAGGED ME AND SAID "RONALD, RONALD, WAIT A MINUTE. I HAVE A QUESTION FOR YOU. RONALD, I THINK IT WOULD BE GOOD FOR YOU, FOR YOUR PERSONAL GROWTH AND INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT TO GO AWAY FOR COLLEGE. THERE IS THIS FINE LIBERAL ARTS COLLEGE IN OHIO CALLED THE COLLEGE OF WOOSTER. WOULD YOU LIKE TO GO TO THE COLLEGE WOOSTER?" W-O-O-S-T-E-R, AND I SAID, NO, NO, OHIO! SO FAR AWAY. I HAD NEVER BEEN OFF THE ISLAND BEFORE. SO I SAID NO. WELL, DR. NISHI SAYS SAID, "WOULD IT BE OKAY, RONALD, IF I WROTE TO THE COLLEGE TO TELL THEM ABOUT YOU?" AND I SAID FINE, AND I WALKED AWAY AND I FORGOT COMPLETELY ABOUT THIS CONVERSATION. WELL, A MONTH LATER IN MAY, I RECEIVED A LETTER FROM THE DEAN OF THE COLLEGE OF WOOSTER, AND THE LETTER READ, "DEAR MR. TAKAKI, YOU HAVE BEEN ACCEPTED TO THE COLLEGE OF WOOSTER." SO, THAT ONE TEACHER, THAT ONE LETTER GAVE ME THE OPPORTUNITY TO TAKE THE STEPS THAT WOULD LEAD TO HERE THIS MORNING. >>LET'S TALK ABOUT YOUR CULTURAL IDENTITY. WHEN DID YOU FIRST BECOME CONSCIOUS OF BEING ETHNICALLY OR RACIALLY DIFFERENT? >> WELL, I WAS BORN IN HAWAII. I GREW UP IN A VALLEY CALLED PALOLO VALLEY ON THE ISLAND OF . OAHU. MY NEIGHBORS WERE PORTUGUESE, CHINESE, JAPANESE, HAWAIIAN. SO WE WERE A MULTIRACIAL, MULTICULTURAL COMMUNITY. WE WENT TO SCHOOL, BUT OUR TEACHERS NEVER TAUGHT US WHY PEOPLES FROM AROUND THE WORLD WERE LIVING AND WORKING TOGETHER IN PALOLO VALLEY. I CAN REMEMBER GOING IN MY NEIGHBOR'S HOME HEARING PORTUGUESE, HAWAIIAN, AND CHINESE. AND I THOUGHT, OH, THIS IS AMERICA! AS KIDS WE SPOKE PIGEON ENGLISH TO EACH OTHER. WE THOUGHT THAT WAS AN AMERICAN LANGUAGE. SO I THINK THAT FORGED A KIND OF ASIAN AMERICAN, BUT ALSO A MULTICULTURAL IDENTITY THAT TRANSCENDED BEING JAPANESE AMERICAN OR ASIAN AMERICAN BECAUSE I WAS AT MY NEIGHBORS WERE PORTUGUESE, AND THEN ACROSS THE STREET WERE CHINESE HAWAIIAN. BUT THEN, AS I TOLD YOU, I WENT ALL THE WAY TO WOOSTER, OHIO. HEY, THAT'S SMALL TOWN, MIDDLE AMERICA. I HAD A CULTURE SHOCK THAT FALL OF 1957. IT WAS A VERY HOMOGENEOUS CAMPUS, AND I CAN REMEMBER THAT FIRST FALL. MY FELLOW STUDENTS AT WOOSTER ASKING ME QUESTIONS LIKE HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN IN THIS COUNTRY? WHERE DID YOU LEARN TO SPEAK ENGLISH? THEY DID NOT SEE ME AS A FELLOW AMERICAN. TO THEM, I DID NOT LOOK LIKE AN AMERICAN, AND I DID NOT HAVE AN AMERICAN SOUNDING NAME. AT THAT TIME, I DIDN'T THINK TOO MUCH ABOUT THEIR QUESTIONS. BUT WHEN I LOOK BACK AT MY WOOSTER EXPERIENCE, I REALIZED THAT IT WAS NOT THE FAULT OF MY FELLOW STUDENTS THAT THEY COULD NOT AND DID NOT DEEM ME AS AN AMERICAN. THINK ABOUT IT. WHAT HAD THEY LEARNED OR WHAT HAD YOU LEARNED IN COURSES CALLED UNITED STATES HISTORY ABOUT ASIAN AMERICANS? ZERO! BUT THINK ABOUT IT, WHAT HAD THEY LEARNED ABOUT AFRICAN AMERICANS OR THE NATIVE PEOPLES OF THIS COUNTRY OR MEXICAN AMERICANS OR PUERTO RICANS. WHAT I CALL THE MASTER NARRATIVE OF AMERICAN HISTORY. THIS IS THE PERVASIVE POPULAR, BUT MISTAKEN STORY, THAT THIS COUNTRY, OUR COUNTRY, WAS SETTLED BY THE EUROPEAN IMMIGRANTS, AND THAT AMERICANS ARE WHITE OR EUROPEAN IN ANCESTRY. NOW, WHEN MY FELLOW STUDENTS ASKED ME THESE QUESTIONS, THEY ASKED THEM INNOCENTLY. BUT THIS MASTER NARRATIVE CAN ALSO BE INJURIOUS. IT CAN LEAD TO THE INTERNMENT OF JAPANESE AMERICANS DURING WORLD WAR II, AND TODAY IT CAN LEAD TO THE DETENTION AND DEPORTATION OF MUSLIMS IN THIS COUNTRY. SO AS TEACHERS, WE HAVE TO BECOME CONSCIOUS OF THIS MASTER NARRATIVE BECAUSE IT IS NOT ONLY IN THE CURRICULUM AND THE THINKING OF OUR POLICY MAKERS, BUT YOU CAN FIND IT IN ENTERTAINMENT MEDIA. YOU CAN FIND IT IN THE NEWS MEDIA. AND SO WE HAVE AN OBLIGATION, BUT ALSO AN OPPORTUNITY AS TEACHERS TO CONSTRUCT A NEW NARRATIVE OF WHO WE, THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES, REALLY ARE. >> IT SEEMS THAT THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF A LOT OF THIS KIND OF LANGUAGE HAS CHANGED A LOT FROM YOUR DAYS IN WOOSTER TO NOW, THIS NEW ELECTION THAT WE ARE HAVING. >>HERE WE ARE IN CALIFORNIA, EVERY CALIFORNIAN BELONGS TO A MINORITY GROUP. YOU ARE A MINORITY. I AM A MINORITY. BUT WHITES ARE MINORITY, TOO. BUT WE ARE ALL MINORITIES IN CALIFORNIA. WHAT HAS HAPPENED IN CALIFORNIA WILL HAPPEN ACROSS THIS COUNTRY BY THE YEAR 2050. JUST IN YESTERDAY'S NEWSPAPERS, IT WAS REPORTED THAT BY THE YEAR 2050, WHITES WILL CONSTITUTE ONLY 47% OF THE TOTAL POPULATION OF THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. IMAGINE. JUST THINK ABOUT THIS AMAZING FUTURE THAT IS ROARING TOWARD US, NOT IN OUR LIFETIME, BUT IN LIFE TIME OF OUR STUDENTS. THEY WILL BE ENTERING A WHOLE NEW AMERICA WHERE WE WILL ALL BE MINORITIES. THIS DEMOGRAPHY IS CHALLENGING THE MASTER NARRATIVE. THIS DEMOGRAPHY IS DECLARING NOT ALL OF US CAME ORIGINALLY FROM EUROPE. AND THE 2008 ELECTION WITH BARACK OBAMA'S CANDIDACY IS ALSO ANNOUNCING NOT ALL OF US ORIGINALLY CAME FROM EUROPE. I THINK AMERICA IS COMING TO TERMS WITH THIS DIVERSITY. AMERICA IS RECOGNIZING THAT DIVERSITY HAS BECOME AMERICA'S MANIFEST DESTINY. THIS DESTINY IS BECOMING MANIFESTED IN OUR POLITICS, BUT ALSO JUST IN THE CHANGING FACES OF OUR STUDENTS. >>YEAH, SO TRUE. YEAH! I MUST BELIEVE THAT FOR A SMALL SEGMENT OF THE WHITE POPULATION, THAT MUST JUST SCARE THEM TO DEATH. >>WELL, I WOULDN'T SAY SO. FOR A SMALL SEGMENT OF THAT WHITE POPULATION WHERE, YOU KNOW, THIS DIVERSITY IS ROARING TOWARD US. YES, THINK ABOUT THE PATRICK BUCHANAN'S AND SAMUEL P. HUNTINGTON'S AND ARTHUR SCHLESINGER'S OF AMERICA, THEY FEAR THIS DIVERSITY. >> ABSOLUTELY. >>THEY THINK IT WILL LEAD TO THE END OF CIVILIZATION, WESTERN CIVILIZATION IN THE UNITED STATES. I DON'T THINK WE HAVE WE HAVE A CHOICE IN THIS MATTER. THIS DIVERSITY IS HAPPENING. SO THIS IS WHERE I BELIEVE EDUCATORS HAVE TO PREPARE OUR STUDENTS AND AMERICA FOR THIS BRAVE NEW WORLD OF THE 21ST CENTURY. MIRANDA, OF COURSE, WAS THE ONE IN SHAKESPEARE'S "THE TEMPEST"S, WHEN SHE SAW CALIBAN SAID, "OH, BRAVE NEW WORLD THAT HAS SUCH PEOPLE IN IT." THAT WAS AN EXPRESSION OF AMAZEMENT WITH THIS DIVERSITY IN FRONT OF HER ON THIS ISLAND IN THE NEW WORLD. SHAKESPEARE IS TURNING OUT TO BE PROPHETIC. (LAUGHING) >>WHAT KIND OF NEW LANGUAGE ARE WE GOING TO NEED TO BE ABLE TO DESCRIBE THIS PHENOMENA? DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEAS FOR HOW WE WILL TALK ABOUT "MINORITY GROUPS" THAT SOME MINORITY GROUPS BECOME MAJORITY GROUPS AND SO FORTH. >>I HAD WRITTEN A BOOK ENTITLED "A DIFFERENT ERA, A HISTORY OF MULTICULTURAL AMERICA." I THINK THAT IS A TERM DESCRIPTIVE OF THIS NEW DIVERSITY WHICH HAS EMERGED, BUT WHICH IS ALSO BEEN AT THE CENTER OF AMERICAN HISTORY FROM THE VERY BEGINNING. SO WHY DO I SAY MULTICULTURAL RATHER THAN RACIAL DIVERSITY? BECAUSE HOW DO WE DEFINE CULTURE? WE COULD DEFINE CULTURE IN TERMS OF OUR RELIGION, OUR DISTINCTIVE CULTURES, BUT ALSO HISTORY IS AN IMPORTANT INGREDIENT IN CULTURE. HISTORY IS HOW WE REMEMBER WHAT HAPPENED TO US AS MEMBERS OF A GROUP. SO WHEN WE THINK ABOUT CULTURE, WE HAVE TO INCLUDE HISTORY. SO WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT OUR CULTURES AND HOW OUR CULTURES HAVE BEEN SHAPED BY DIFFERENT RACIAL EXPERIENCES, THEY BECOME PART OF OUR CULTURAL IDENTITY. NOW, SO THIS IS WHY I SAY IT IS MULTICULTURAL AMERICA. AND WE THINK MULTICULTURAL AMERICA IS LIKE THE UMBRELLA FOR DISTINCT ETHNIC IDENTITIES. THIS IS WHERE I'D LIKE TO IDENTIFY MYSELF AS AN ASIAN AMERICAN WITH WITHOUT A HYPHEN BECAUSE A HYPHEN WOULD MEAN THERE ARE TWO NOUNS THERE, ASIAN AND AMERICAN. BUT WITHOUT A HYPHEN-- SO MY ETHNIC IDENTITY, ASIAN IS AN ADJECTIVE TO MY IDENTITY AS AN AMERICAN. AMERICAN IS THE NOUN. SO YOU THINK OF ASIAN AMERICAN, AFRICAN AMERICAN, MEXICAN AMERICAN, JEWISH AMERICAN, IRISH AMERICAN. AND SO THIS IS E-PLURIBUS. WE ARE PLURIBUS. BUT WE ARE ALSO AMERICANS. WE ARE A DIVERSE PEOPLE BELONGING TO ONE NATION. >> I THINK WE ARE PROBABLY GET SOME PEOPLE WHO FEEL THAT ASSIMILATION IS THE BEST WAY TO GO, BECAUSE IF WE DO THE OTHER, WE ARE LIKELY TO GET BALKANIZATION. >>THIS IS WHAT I WOULD SAY. LET'S REMEMBER THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. THIS FABULOUS FOUNDING DOCUMENT DECLARED THE SELF-EVIDENT TRUTH THAT ALL MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL, AND THEY ARE ALL ENDOWED WITH UNALIENABLE RIGHTS OF LIFE, LIBERTY AND PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS. SO EQUALITY MEANS OUR RIGHT TO HAVE DIGNITY FOR OUR DIFFERENCE. OKAY, QUALITY IN OUR DIFFERENCES. AN ACCEPTANCE OF OUR PHYSICAL DIFFERENCES, LIKE THE SHAPE OF OUR EYES, THAT'S PART OF EQUALITY. LET'S FACE IT, NOT ALL OF US WILL BE ABLE TO MELT INTO THE MELTING POT BECAUSE WE HAVE DISTINGUISHING PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS. A MELTING POT WAS DESIGNED ACTUALLY FOR EUROPEAN IMMIGRANTS. EVEN FOR EUROPEAN IMMIGRANTS, MANY OF THEM HAD TO GIVE THEIR CULTURES AND THEIR RELIGIONS IN ORDER TO MELT INTO THE PROTESTANT MELTING POT. BUT PEOPLE OF COLOR COULDN'T MELT IN THE MELTING POT. IN FACT, AT THE HEIGHT OF THE MELTING POT, 1920'S THE COUNTRY PASSED THE IMMIGRATION ACT OF 1924 WHICH TOTALLY EXCLUDED IMMIGRANTS FROM ASIA. SO, BUT THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE ALSO SAID WE HAVE THE UNALIENABLE RIGHTS OF THE PURSUIT OF LIFE, LIBERTY AND THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS. WE SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO BE DIFFERENT AND TO ACCEPT OUR DIFFERENCES, BUT ALSO TO HAVE OUR DIFFERENCES ACCEPTED. SO THAT WOULD BE WHAT I WOULD RESPOND TO THE -- TO THOSE WHO SAY "OH, WE NEED TO ASSIMILATE." ASSIMILATE MEANS WE MELT DOWN OUR DIFFERENCES. WE DENY OUR DIFFERENCES. I'D LIKE TO THINK OF AMERICA AS A TAPESTRY WHERE YOU HAVE ALL THESE DIFFERENT STRANDS WOVEN TOGETHER, BUT TOGETHER WE CREATE THIS BEAUTIFUL PATTERN CALLED UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. >>WHAT KIND OF SKILLS WILL A CULTURALLY COMPETENT TEACHER NEED TO BE EFFECTIVE IN TODAY'S CLASSROOM? >> I THINK A CULTURALLY COMPETENT TEACHER WOULD TEACH STUDENTS EPISTEMOLOGY, HOW DO WE KNOW WHAT WE KNOW WHAT WE KNOW BECAUSE THAT IS A WAY FOR US TO COMPREHEND THE WORLD, YOU SEE. AND WE WANT TO BE ABLE TO COMPREHEND THE WORLD. AND IN ORDER FOR US TO DO THAT, WE NEED THESE THINKING SKILLS OF EPISTEMOLOGY. THAT'S WHAT DR. NISHI DID WITH HIS STUDENTS. DR. NISHI HIMSELF DIDN'T USE THE TERM EPISTEMOLOGY. THAT'S THE TERM I HAVE BEEN PRACTICING, BUT STILL HE WAS ASKING US TO ASK THESE QUESTIONS. SO THAT WOULD BE PART OF CULTURAL COMPETENCY BECAUSE THAT IS AN INVITATION TO STUDENTS TO BECOME CULTURALLY COMPETENT BECAUSE THEN THEY ARE ASKING THEMSELVES, HOW DO I KNOW WHAT I KNOW ABOUT DIVERSITY? HOW DO I KNOW WHAT I KNOW ABOUT MY FELLOW STUDENTS IN MY VERY CLASSROOM, YOU SEE. CULTURAL COMPETENCY WOULD BE ALSO AN AWARENESS OF AMERICA'S DIVERSE PEOPLE AND THEIR HISTORY. HISTORY MATTERS. AND THIS IS WHERE IT IS IMPORTANT FOR OUR CULTURALLY COMPETENT TEACHERS TO HAVE AN INFORMED UNDERSTANDING OF THE HISTORY OF WE THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES, WE THE DIVERSE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES. >>THAT'S A NICE SEGWAY INTO YOUR WORK. I AM INTERESTED THIS HOW YOU CONSTRUCT THE WAY YOU TELL THE HISTORY. >>WELL, I THINK IT WAS ROOTED IN PALOLO VALLEY. THINK ABOUT MY NEIGHBORS, PORTUGUESE, HAWAIIAN, CHINESE JAPANESE, HAWAIIANS, AND THERE WERE FILIPINOS NEARBY AND KOREANS. SO AS A KID I WAS THINKING IN TERMS, THIS MULTICULTURAL REALITY. BUT, ALSO, I GRADUATED FROM WOOSTER IN 1961. AND THEN I ENTERED THE PH.D. PROGRAM IN AMERICAN HISTORY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKELEY. I WANTED TO BE LIKE DR. NISHI, PH.D. SO, HERE, I CAME TO BERKELEY IN 1961, AND BERKELEY IN THE 60'S CHANGED MY LIFE! (LAUGHING) CHANGE YOUR'S, TOO (LAUGHING) >>YOU BET. >>I WAS INSPIRED BY THE MORAL VISION OF MARTIN LUTHER KING. AND IN 1964, I HAD AN EXPERIENCE. 1964 WAS THE SUMMER OF MISSISSIPPI FREEDOM SUMMER WHEN STUDENTS WERE GOING INTO THE SCHOOLS TO REGISTER VOTERS. AND THE NEWS THAT THREE YOUNG CIVIL RIGHTS WORKERS HAD BEEN MURDERED AND BURIED IN MISSISSIPPI HORRIFIED ME. AND I DECIDED THAT I WOULD FOCUS MY DISSERTATION ON SLAVERY. I WANTED TO UNDERSTAND THE ROOTS OF THIS KIND OF RACIAL HATRED AND VIOLENCE. IN 1964, BEGAN MY STUDY OF SLAVERY AS A GRADUATE STUDENT. THEN IN '65, WATTS EXPLODED. MANY OF US CAN STILL REMEMBER WATCHING THE TELEVISED REPORTS OF THE WATTS REBELLION AND SEEING THE DARK SMOKE RISING TO THE SKIES ABOVE LOS ANGELES, AND THEN LOOKING DOWN AT THE WATTS SECTION OF LOS ANGELES, AND IT LOOKED LIKE LITERALLY A BOMBED OUT CITY. THAT WAS WATTS REBELLION WAS A WAKE UP CALL TO UNIVERSITIES ACROSS THE THIS COUNTRY. U.C.L.A. IN 1966 DECIDED TO CREATE A NEW POSITION IN THE HISTORY DEPARTMENT TO OFFER U.C.L.A.'S FIRST BLACK HISTORY COURSE. IT ANNOUNCED THE POSITION IN 1966. I WAS FINISHING MY DISSERTATION, AND I APPLIED FOR THAT POSITION, AND GUESS, WHAT HAPPENED? U.C.L.A. OFFERED IT TO ME! AND YOU ARE PROBABLY WONDERING, WHAT WAS IT LIKE FOR YOU, PROFESSOR, DR. TAKAKI, TO BE TEACHING UCLA'S FIRST BLACK HISTORY COURSE IN 1967. WELL, YOU SHOULD HAVE SEEN ME AT THAT TIME. I HAD BLACK HAIR, PITCH-BLACK HAIR, I HAD A CREW CUT. I WAS ONLY 28 YEARS OLD, AND I WENT DOWN TO U.C.L.A. TO TEACH ITS FIRST BLACK HISTORY COURSE. WHEN I GOT THERE, I FOUND THAT MY COURSE HAD BEEN ASSIGNED TO A LARGE LECTURE HALL. AND WHEN I WALKED IN, EVERY SEAT WAS TAKEN. 500 SEATS, AND THERE WERE STUDENTS SITTING IN THE AISLES. IT WAS SO PACKED! AND THERE WAS A PLATFORM STAGE AT THE FRONT OF THIS AUDITORIUM AND A PODIUM. WHEN I WALKED IN, THERE WAS A LOT OF CHITTER CHATTER IN THE AIR. STUDENTS WERE EXCITED. WHOA, U.C.L.A.'S FIRST BLACK HISTORY COURSE. SO I MADE MY WAY TO THE FRONT OF THE ROOM. AND ALL OF A SUDDEN, A SILENCE STOOD ON THIS ROOM. D THEIR THE EYES WERE RIVETTED ON ME. AND I COULD JUST FEEL THEM SPEAK TO THEMSELVES, FUNNY, HE DOESN'T LOOK BLACK! (LAUGHING) THESE WERE THE DAYS OF BLACK MILITANCY, WHEN BLACK STUDENTS WORE THE DASHIKIS. YOU DON'T EVEN HEAR THE WORD DASHIKI ANY MORE, AND THEY WORE THE HUGE AFROS. I WALKED TO THE FRONT OF THE ROOM, GOT ON THE STAGE AND GOT BEHIND THE PODIUM. BEFORE I COULD SAY ANYTHING, THIS TALL BLACK STUDENT IN THE MIDDLE STANDS UP AND HE RAISES HIS HAND, AND HE SAID, " WELL, PROFESSOR, TAKAKI, WHAT REVOLUTIONARY TOOLS ARE WE GOING TO LEARN IN THIS CLASS!" I THOUGHT, OH, THIS IS NOT THE WAY I WOULD LIKE TO BEGIN MY CAREER AS A TEACHER! HERE, WE HAD 500 STUDENTS SITTING ON THE EDGES OF THEIR CHAIR, THINKING WHAT IS HE GOING TO SAY. HOW IS HE GOING TO ANSWER THAT QUESTION. I CAN'T REMEMBER EXACTLY WHAT I SAID. BUT I THINK I SAID SOMETHING LIKE THIS, "WE WILL BE STUDYING THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES AS IT RELATES TO BLACK PEOPLE. WE WILL ALSO BE SHARPENING AND STRENGTHENING OUR CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS AND OUR WRITING SKILLS, AND THESE CAN BE REVOLUTIONARY TOOLS IF YOU WANT TO MAKE THEM SO." SO THAT'S HOW I BEGAN. >>WHAT WAS THE COMPOSITION OF THAT CLASS? >> MOSTLY WHITE. THIS WAS 1967. >>SURE, RIGHT. >>BEFORE THE DAYS OF AFFIRMATIVE ACTION. >>RIGHT. >>BUT ALSO THERE WERE SOME ASIAN AMERICAN STUDENTS, BUT NOT TOO MANY, BECAUSE THE IMMIGRATION ACT WAS JUST PASSED IN 1965. SO UP TO 1965, ASIAN AMERICANS COULDN'T ENTER THIS COUNTRY. WE HAD A HANDFUL OF STUDENTS FROM MEXICO. BUT THE VERY DIVERSITY IN MY CLASS LED ME TO ASK EPISTEMOLOGICAL QUESTION, BACK TO DR. NISHI, EVEN THOUGH I HAD A PH.D. IN AMERICAN HISTORY, I ASKED MYSELF THE QUESTION, HOW DO I KNOW WHAT I KNOW ABOUT THE DIVERSE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AS REFLECTED IN THE VERY FACES OF MY STUDENTS BEFORE ME. SO IT BEGAN AT U.C.L.A. WHERE I BEGAN TO RETHINK MY THINKING ABOUT AMERICAN HISTORY. I ALSO DECIDED, HOWEVER, TO INCLUDE WHILE AT U.C.L.A., TO INCLUDE THE STUDY OF IRISH IMMIGRANTS BECAUSE I WANTED TO INCLUDE ETHNIC MINORITIES, NOT JUST RACIAL MINORITIES. THEN I CAME TO BERKELEY IN 1972, I CAME TO BERKELEY AND I BROUGHT THE COMPARATIVE APPROACH WITH ME IN 1972. HERE AT BERKELEY, I HAVE BEEN ABLE TO ACHIEVE SOME CURRICULUM INNOVATIONS. IN 1974, I WROTE AND ESTABLISHED THE COMPARATIVE ETHNIC STUDIES MAJOR FOR UNDERGRADUATES, 1974. IN 1984, I WROTE AND I GOT APPROVED A PROPOSAL FOR COMPARATIVE ETHNIC STUDIES PH.D. PROGRAM. SO NOW WE OFFER THE PH.D. IN COMPARATIVE ETHNIC STUDIES, AND WE HAVE OVER 120 STUDENTS STUDYING FOR THEIR PH.D. THEN IN 1989 CAME THE BIGGEST INSTITUTIONAL CHANGE. THE MULTICULTURAL REQUIREMENT FOR GRADUATION. WE CALL IT THE AMERICAN CULTURES REQUIREMENT. EVERY STUDENT IN ORDER TO GRADUATE FROM BERKELEY, MUST TAKE A COURSE DESIGNED TO DEEPEN AND BROADEN UNDERSTANDING OF AMERICA'S RACIAL AND ETHNIC DIVERSITY. ITS NOT A NEW REQUIREMENT. IT JUST SAYS THAT YOU HAVE TO TAKE TWO SOCIAL SCIENCES COURSES, TWO HUMANITIES COURSES AND ONE OF THESE FOUR COURSE, MUST HAVE MULTICULTURAL CONTENT. BUT THAT CONTENT MUST BE COMPARATIVE. GUESS WHERE THEY GOT THAT IDEA, COMPARATIVE? IT MUST INCLUDE THE STUDY OF FIVE GROUPS, AFRICAN AMERICANS, ASIAN AMERICANS, LATINO AMERICANS, NATIVE AMERICANS AND ALSO EUROPEAN IMMIGRANT GROUPS, ESPECIALLY THE GROUPS THAT CAME FROM IRELAND, POLAND, ITALY AND RUSSIA, GROUPS THAT HAVE BEEN LEFT OUT OF THE TRADITIONAL ANGLO-AMERICAN CURRICULUM. YEAH, SO THAT COMPARATIVE MULTICULTURE APPROACH THEN, YOU KNOW, BEGAN IN PALOLO VALLEY AND CAME ALL THE WAY UP TO BERKELEY 1989, MULTICULTURAL REQUIREMENT. >>GREAT. GREAT. HOW DO YOU USE BOTH HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS AND LITERATURE TO HELP WEAVE STORIES ABOUT WHO WE ARE AS A PEOPLE AND A NATION? >> I AM TRAINED AS A HISTORIAN, BUT ACTUALLY I PRACTICE WHAT I CALL AN INTEGRATED INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACH TO THE STUDY OF REALITY. MY BOOKS INCLUDE, NOT JUST HISTORY, BUT ALSO ECONOMICS, SOCIOLOGY, ANTHROPOLOGY AND LITERATURE. BECAUSE I THINK THAT THE DEPARTMENTAL STRUCTURES ARE ARTIFICIAL, AND THEY SEPARATE KNOWLEDGE. I BELIEVE THAT IN ORDER FOR US TO COMPREHEND THE WORLD, WE HAVE TO INTEGRATE KNOWLEDGE. SO I HAVE NO PROBLEMS WITH PRESENTING STATISTICS AND SHAKESPEARE SIDE BY SIDE. I THINK THIS IS THE WAY I'D LIKE TO SEE FUTURE SCHOLARSHIP. I AM TRYING TO DEMONSTRATE A WAY FOR US, AS SCHOLARS, BUT ALSO AS TEACHERS, TO COMPREHEND THIS WORLD AND TO DO IT IN AN INTEGRATED, INTERDISCIPLINARY WAY. NOW, IN THE KIND OF TEACHING THAT I DO AND THE KIND OF WRITING THAT I DO, IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO TELL STORIES. BECAUSE STORIES ALLOW US TO GET ACCOUNTS OF FIRSTHAND EXPERIENCES. SO IT IS NOT LIKE A SECONDARY SOURCE TELLING US WHAT HAPPENED IN THE PAST, BUT IT IS THE PEOPLE WHO HAVE EXPERIENCED THAT PAST TELLING US WHAT THEY EXPERIENCED. OKAY. SO A TEACHER OF HISTORY CAN UNFOLD THE PAST BY RETELLING STORIES. LESLIE SILKO, IN THE BOOK "CEREMONY " POWERFUL AND BRILLIANT BOOK OPENS WITH THIS POEM, SHE SAYS, AS WRITTEN, "OUR STORIES AREN'T JUST FOR ENTERTAINMENT. DON'T BE FOOLED." BUT OUR STORIES FROM HISTORY ARE ENTERTAINING, BUT THEY DO MORE THAN THAT. THEY REVEAL AMERICA'S PAST, AND THEY REVEAL LIKE EXPERIENCES THAT HAPPEN TO REAL PEOPLE. THINK ABOUT MY SCHOLARSHIP. IN MY BOOKS, MY BOOKS ARE INHABITED BY REAL PEOPLE. THEY HAVE NAMES. THEY HAVE WILLS. THEY HAVE VOICES, AND THEY SPEAK TO US. BUT THIS IS WHAT A TEACHER CAN DO THROUGH THE TEACHING OF AMERICAN HISTORY. >>WE HEAR ABOUT HIS STORY. CAN YOU TALK ABOUT HER STORY. >>USUALLY, JQ, HIS STORY IS HISTORY. HISTORY OF MEN, NOT ONLY MEN, BUT MEN AT THE TOP, ELITE HISTORY. I HAVE BEEN WRITING HISTORY NOT ONLY FROM THE TOP DOWN, BUT ALSO FROM THE BOTTOM UP. BUT WE HAVE TO REMEMBER THAT THERE WERE WOMEN IN HISTORY, TOO. HISTORY IS NOT JUST HIS STORY, BUT ALSO HER STORY. AND IT IS IMPORTANT WHEN WE STUDY THE DIVERSE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, WE HAVE TO REMEMBER THAT, THERE WERE WOMEN HERE, TOO, IN THIS PAST. AND SO EVERYWHERE IN MY SCHOLARSHIP, IN MY HISTORY, I MAKE SURE HER STORY IS BEING TOLD, TOO. BECAUSE WOMEN HAD AGENCY IN THE PAST, TOO. NOT ONLY DID THEY RAISE FAMILIES, BUT THEY WERE WORKERS. THEY WORKED IN THE FIELDS AND IN THE FACTORIES OF AMERICA. MY GRANDMOTHER CAME HERE FROM JAPAN, AND SHE WORKED AS A PLANTATION WORKER IN HAWAII. SO SHE HELPED TO BUILD THAT SUGAR KINGDOM IN HAWAII. BUT THINK ABOUT THOSE AFRICAN WOMAN WORKING IN THE COTTON FIELDS OF MISSISSIPPI AND ALABAMA. THEY WERE THERE, TOO, THEY WERE WORKING. SO THEY WEREN'T JUST RAISING FAMILIES. THEY WERE WORKERS. TOGETHER THEY HELPED TO BUILD THE AMERICAN ECONOMY INTO A WORLD CLASS ECONOMY. SO TO LEAVE WOMEN OUT IS TO LEAVE OUT HALF OF HISTORY! >>I UNDERSTAND YOU HAVE A STORY ABOUT THE INTERNMENT OF JAPANESE DURING WORLD WAR II. >>FOR A LONG TIME, MOST AMERICANS DIDN'T EVEN KNOW THAT THE JAPANESE AMERICANS HAD BEEN INTERNED DURING WORLD WAR II. THEY SAW WORLD WAR II AS THE GOOD WAR, YOU SEE. OH, THE UNITED STATES DID NOTHING CRIMINAL. BUT WORLD WAR II WAS ALSO THE TIME WHEN 120 AMERICANS OF JAPANESE ANCESTRY WERE ROUNDED UP, EVACUATED AND PLACED IN CONCENTRATION CAMPS IN THE UNITED STATES. TWO-THIRDS OF THESE. >>120,000. >>120,000 OF THEM. TWO-THIRDS OF THEM WERE CITIZENS BY BIRTH. SO THEY HAD THEIR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS VIOLATED. BUT EVEN IF THEY HAD NOT BEEN CITIZENS BY BIRTH, THE CONSTITUTION ALSO PROTECTS THEM. IT SAYS "ALL PERSONS ARE ENTITLED TO DUE PROCESS OF THE LAW." AND THE RECOMMENDATION FOR THE EVACUATION AND INTERNMENT BEGAN RIGHT HERE IN SAN FRANCISCO, IN THE PRESIDIO, WHERE THE GENERAL OF THE WEST COAST DEFENSE, GENERAL JOHN DEWITT WAS A RACIST. HE WAS THE ONE WHO COINED THIS PHRASE "A JAP IS A JAP IS A JAP." IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT GENERATION YOU ARE, YOU INHERIT LOYALTY TO THE EMPEROR. SO HE RECOMMENDED THAT THESE ALIENS WHO REPRESENTED A THREAT TO THE SECURITY OF THE UNITED STATES BE EVACUATED FROM THE WEST COAST AND PUT IN CONCENTRATION CAMPS. WELL, HE SENT THAT RECOMMENDATION TO WASHINGTON, AND THE SECRETARY OF WAR, AT THAT TIME THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE WAS CALLED THE SECRETARY OF WAR, HENRY L. STEMSON WROTE IN HIS DIARY, FEBRUARY 10, 1942, AND I HAVE READ THAT DIARY. HE SAID "IN ORDER FOR US TO DO THIS EVACUATION AND INTERNMENT, WE'D HAVE TO PUT A HOLE IN THE CONSTITUTION, A HOLE IN THE CONSTITUTION." SO, HERE, ONE OF OUR TOP POLICY MAKERS, SECRETARY OF WAR WAS SAYING WE CAN'T DO THIS WITHOUT VIOLATING OUR OWN CONSTITUTION. BUT WHAT DID ROOSEVELT DO, HE SIGNED THAT EXECUTIVE ORDER, THINKING, OH, THESE JAPANESE REPRESENTED A THREAT TO THE MILITARY SECURITY OF THE UNITED STATES. ROOSEVELT DID THE WRONG THING. OKAY. AND LATER TO THE CREDIT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, IN 1988, THE CONGRESS PASSED A LAW FOR REDRESS AND REPARATIONS SAYING THAT THE CONGRESS, FEDERAL GOVERNMENT APOLOGIZES FOR VIOLATING YOUR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS AND PAID EACH PERSON WHO HAD BEEN INTERNED $20,000. THAT'S JUST SYMBOLIC. THAT'S JUST A TOKEN. BUT WHAT IS USUALLY LEFT OUT OF THE HISTORY BOOKS IS THE STORY THAT THE JAPANESE IN HAWAII WERE NOT INTERNED. I AM FROM HAWAII. I WAS NEVER SENT TO AN INTERNMENT CAMP. WHY IS IT THAT THE JAPANESE IN HAWAII WHO CONSTITUTED A LARGER POPULATION THAN THE JAPANESE ON THE WEST COAST. WHY IS IT WE WERE NOT INTERNED? WE ALSO WERE LIVING IN AN AREA WHERE MILITARY ACTION BETWEEN JAPAN AND THE UNITED STATES ACTUALLY HAD TAKEN PLACE AT PEARL HARBOR. WELL, WHY IS IT THAT WE WERE NOT INTERNED? THAT'S A QUESTION I HAD TO ASK. HERE IS EPISTEMOLOGY AGAIN, IN ORDER FOR ME TO ANSWER THAT QUESTION, I HAVE TO DO RESEARCH. THIS IS WHAT I FOUND. I FOUND THAT THE MILITARY GOVERNOR OF HAWAII, HIS NAME IS GENERAL DELOS EMMONS, RIGHT AFTER PEARL HARBOR, MADE A PUBLIC DECLARATION ON RADIO, HE SAID "JAPANESE AMERICANS NEED NOT WORRY ABOUT BEING PLACED IN CONCENTRATION CAMPS," AND HE USED THAT WORD, "CONCENTRATION CAMPS." HE SAID, "WE HAVE A CONSTITUTION TO RESPECT AND TO ENFORCE. YOU ARE ENTITLED TO DUE PROCESS OF THE LAW. WE WILL TRY YOU PERSON BY PERSON SO THERE WILL BE NO MASS INTERNMENT." AND THANKS TO GENERAL DELOS EMMONS, THE JAPANESE IN HAWAII WERE NOT INTERNED. THIS HISTORY SHOWS THAT IT IS POSSIBLE FOR A POLICY MAKER TO DO THE RIGHT THING, TO REMEMBER THAT THIS COUNTRY HAS A CONSTITUTION. >>POWERFUL STORY. >> TODAY, THE RIGHTS OF MUSLIMS IN THIS COUNTRY HAVE BEEN VIOLATED LIKE RIGHT AFTER 9-11, THOUSANDS OF MUSLIMS WERE ARRESTED, AND THEY WERE DETAINED. THEY WERE DETAINED. THEY ARE STILL BEING DETAINED IN PRISONS IN THIS COUNTRY. AND MANY OF THEM HAVE BEEN DEPORTED. IT SEEMS THIS IS AN INJUSTICE. I TOLD YOU ABOUT HOW THE CONGRESS MANY YEARS AFTER INTERNMENT HAD TO APOLOGIZE. I CAN JUST SEE THE TIME COMING WHEN THIS CONGRESS, THIS GOVERNMENT WILL HAVE TO APOLOGIZE TO THE MUSLIMS THAT THEY HAVE DETAINED UNCONSTITUTIONALLY AND THEY DEPORTED. BUT TO DETAIN AND TO DEPORT HAS WREAKED HAVOC ON THEIR LIVES AS INDIVIDUALS AND AS FAMILIES. SO THIS IS AN AMERICAN TRAGEDY THAT IS HAPPENING RIGHT NOW TODAY. AND I WISH OUR POLICY MAKERS WILL REMEMBER THAT WE ARE A NATION OF LAWS, AND OUR LAWS ARE BASED ON OUR CONSTITUTION WHICH GUARANTEES THE RIGHT OF HABEAS CORPUS. >>OFTEN WHEN STRUGGLING WITH MY STUDENTS TO UNDERSTAND THESE CONCEPTS, ESPECIALLY DEALING WITH THE ISSUE OF DIVERSITY, THEY COME UP WITH THIS NOTION OF BEING COLORBLIND. WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THAT CONCEPT? >> WELL, WHO IS REALLY COLORBLIND? LET'S BE HONEST WITH OURSELVES! (LAUGHING) WHEN SOMEBODY SEES ME, DON'T THINK THEY DON'T SEE LIKE THESE EYES. WHEN THEY SEE YOU, DON'T THINK THEY DON'T SEE THE COMPLEXION OF YOUR SKIN. THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS BEING COLORBLIND AND VIEWING YOU AS AN INDIVIDUAL. OUR CHARACTERISTICS, OUR RACIAL CHARACTERISTICS ARE PART OF OUR HUMANITY. WHAT WE WANT TO DO IS TO MAKE SURE THAT OUR DIFFERENCES ARE GIVEN DIGNITY, AND THIS IS THE COUNTRY WHERE OUR DIFFERENCES ARE ENTITLED TO DIGNITY. BECAUSE HOW MANY COUNTRIES IN THE ENTIRE WORLD HAVE BEEN FOUNDED ON A DOCUMENT CALLED THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. IS SO I THINK WE HAVE ENTERED LIKE THIS NEW CENTURY AND THE TIME HAS COME, YOU KNOW, TO RECOGNIZE AND APPRECIATE DIFFERENCES. THAT WILL ENRICH US, ENRICH ALL OF US. >>WHAT IS IT ABOUT THIS COUNTRY THAT KEEPS THE RACE CARD ALIVE, THESE IMPLICATIONS THAT WE MAKE ABOUT RACE AND ETHNICITY AND GENDER? WHY DOES THAT KEEP COMING BACK? >>THAT MASTER NARRATIVE IS A RACIST NARRATIVE. IT NARROWLY DEFINES WHO IS AN AMERICAN, YOU SEE. FOR THIS GOVERNMENT TO SCRUTINIZE CHINESE AMERICANS IS TO SAY, OH, THEY ARE NOT QUITE AMERICAN. THEY STILL HAVE THEIR LOYALTIES TO CHINA. SO I THINK THAT'S AT THE BASIS. IT IS LIKE A CURRENT UNDER THE SURFACE OF OUR CONSCIOUSNESS AND OUR POLITICS AS TO WHO IS AN AMERICAN. AND THIS IS WHERE TEACHERS HAVE THE OBLIGATION AND ALSO THE OPPORTUNITY TO REDEFINE WHO IS AN AMERICAN, TO OFFER A MORE INCLUSIVE AND MORE ACCURATE DEFINITION OF WHO IS AN AMERICAN. >>OFTEN AFRICAN AMERICANS ARE CRITICIZED FOR NOT BEING ABLE TO GIVE UP THE PAST, THAT THEY STILL ARE CONCERNED ABOUT JIM CROW AND SLAVERY AND SO FORTH. WHY DOES RACE STILL MATTER TO THEM IN THAT HISTORICAL CONTEXT? >> BECAUSE SEDIMENTATION OF SLAVERY IS SO POWERFUL EVEN TODAY IN THE 21ST CENTURY. I CAN GIVE YOU ONE EXAMPLE OF THIS SEDIMENTATION. IN THE 17TH CENTURY, IN VIRGINIA WHERE IT ALL BEGAN, THE FIRST AFRICANS WERE LANDED BY THIS DUTCH SLAVESHIP IN 1619, 20 AFRICANS WERE LANDED. OVER 50 YEARS LATER, THE AFRICAN POPULATION IN VIRGINIA, IN THE VIRGINIA COLONY, WAS ONLY 5%. THESE ENGLISH PLANTERS IN VIRGINIA, DID NOT WANT TO BRING WORKERS IN FROM AFRICA. THEY PREFERRED WHITE INDENTURED SERVICES FROM ENGLAND AND IRELAND BECAUSE THEY SAW VIRGINIA AS A NEW ENGLISH SOCIETY IN THE NEW WORLD. IN NEW ENGLAND IT WOULD BE A "NEW" ENGLAND. THEY WANTED THIS TO BE A HOMOGENEOUS, A RACIALLY HOMOGENEOUS ENGLISH WORLD IN AMERICA. BUT THEN SOMETHING HAPPENED IN 1676. THERE WAS BACON'S REBELLION. OKAY, THIS IS SOMETHING EVERYBODY STUDIES IN U.S. HISTORY COURSE, BACON'S REBELLION. JUST THINK WHAT THEY HAVE HAS DONE WITH BACON'S REBELLION BECAUSE I AM GOING TO BACON' REBELLION, A FAMILIAR EVENT. I AM LOOKING AT BACON'S REBELLION THROUGH A MULTICULTURAL LENS. WHAT I FOUND SIGNIFICANT ABOUT BACON'S REBELLION IS THAT THE REBELS WERE MAINLY WHITE REBELS. THEY WERE WHITE INDENTURED SERVANTS. THEY WERE NON-WHITE LAND HOLDING WORKERS. THERE WAS A LAW AGAINST BLACKS OWNING GUNS. BUT THESE WHITE REBELS GAVE ARMS TO THE BLACKS, AND TOGETHER THEY MARCHED ON JAMESTOWN, 500 OF THEM, AND THEY BURNED JAMESTOWN TO THE GROUND. AFTER BACON'S REBELLION, THE PLANTER ELITE IN VIRGINIA DECIDED TO SHIFT FROM THE DEPENDENCY ON WHITE INDENTURED SERVITUDE TO ENSLAVED AND DISARMED WORKERS FROM AFRICA. SO THE BLACK POPULATION INCLINED SHARPLY AFTER BACON'S REBELLION. AND VIRGINIA BECAME A BIRACIAL COLONY. SO WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT WHAT IS HAPPENING TODAY WITH A HUGE AFRICAN AMERICAN POPULATION, IT ALL STARTED IN HISTORY, YOU SEE. BUT NOT ONLY DID THESE PLANTERS IN THE 17TH CENTURY AFTER BACON'S REBELLION TURNED THEN TO AFRICA AS MAJOR SOURCE OF LABOR, BUT THEY PASSED LAWS THAT PROHIBITED MISCEGENATION. OKAY. THEY SAID A CHILD INHERITS THE STATUS OF HIS MOTHER. SO IF THE MOTHER IS A SLAVE, THE CHILD IS A SLAVE. OKAY. ALTHOUGH THE FATHER MIGHT BE A WHITE MASTER OR WHITE MAN, THE CHILD IS STILL A SLAVE AND IS BLACK. AFTER BACON'S REBELLION, IT ALSO PASSED A LAW AIMED AT ENGLISH WOMEN. IF ENGLISH WOMEN CONCEIVED AND GAVE BIRTH TO A BIRACIAL CHILD, THAT CHILD, TOO, WOULD BE ENSLAVED. OKAY. SO SLAVERY BECAME EQUIVALENT WITH BLACK. IT DIDN'T MATTER WHAT THE RACIAL MIXTURE OF THE CHILD WAS. SO, TODAY, YOU STILL HAVE THIS ONE DROP RULE. YOU SEE, CENTURIES LATER SO THAT IT DOESN'T MATTER WHETHER OR NOT YOU ARE RACIALLY MIXED LIKE TIGER WOODS, YOU ARE STILL BLACK. THINK ABOUT HENRY LEWIS GATES. AS IT TURNS OUT HIS D.N.A. POOL IS LARGER IN EUROPE THAN IN AFRICA. BUT HE IS STILL BLACK, YOU SEE. SO SOMETHING IS WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE. BUT THIS IS THE SEDIMENTATION THAT I HAVE BEEN TALKING ABOUT. IT IS STILL LIKE -- IT IS DEEPLY EMBEDDED IN U.S. SOCIETY AND U.S. CULTURE. THAT'S WHY THE HISTORY OF SLAVERY MATTERS. I ONLY RECENTLY LEARNED THIS FACT THAT I WISH EVERY AMERICAN WOULD KNOW. I HAD PUBLISHED MY BOOK, "A DIFFERENT MIRROR," IN 1993, AND I DIDN'T KNOW THIS FACT CLEARLY IN 1993. BUT AFTER 1993, I DID MORE RESEARCH ON BLACKS DURING THE CIVIL WAR. AND HERE YOU HAD THE NATION EXPERIENCING ITS MOST SEVERE CRISIS, THE CIVIL WAR. WE COULD HAVE DISSOLVED AS THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA IN 1862 IF THE SOUTH HAS SECEDED TO DEFEND SLAVERY. AT THE BEGINNING OF THE CIVIL WAR, PRESIDENT LINCOLN REFUSED TO ALLOW THE UNION ARMY TO ENLIST AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE UNION ARMY BECAUSE HE THOUGHT WHITE TROOPS WOULD NOT WANT TO FIGHT WITH BLACK TROOPS, BUT HE ALSO WAS CONCERNED ABOUT THE BORDER STATES. HE DID NOT WANT THE BORDER STATES TO SECEDE BECAUSE THEN THAT WOULD BE THE END OF THIS GAME, THIS WAR. THE WAR BEGAN IN 1862, 1861. IN 1863, IN THE SPRING OF 1863, THE NORTH WAS LOSING THE CIVIL WAR. THE NORTH WAS ON THE VERGE OF LOSING THE ENTIRE WAR. THE WAR HAD BEEN UNDERWAY FOR TWO YEARS NOW, AND WHITE SOLDIERS FIGHTING IN THE UNION ARMY HAD COMPLETED THEIR TERMS OF ENLISTMENT, AND THEY WERE RETURNING TO CLEVELAND, BOSTON, CHICAGO. THEY WERE GOING HOME, AND THEY WERE TIRED OF FIGHTING THIS WAR OVER SLAVERY. OKAY. THERE WAS NO DRAFT LAW YET IN THE SPRING OF 1863, AND THERE WERE VIRTUALLY NO NEW WHITE ENLISTMENTS. THOSE WHITE MEN IN THE NORTH WERE NOT ENLISTING, WERE NOT VOLUNTEERING TO FIGHT IN THE UNION ARMY. AT THIS POINT, LINCOLN SAW HE HAD NO CHOICE. SO HE ORDERED HIS COMMANDERS IN THE FIELD TO START ENLISTING BLACK MEN AS FAST AS HE CAN. WITHIN MONTHS, GENERAL LORENZO THOMAS WHO WAS ALREADY FIGHTING IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY, HAD 20 REGIMENTS OF BLACK MEN IN BLUE WHO WANTED TO BE ARMED IN ORDER TO LIBERATE THEIR WIVES AND CHILDREN STILL IN BONDAGE. BY THE TIME LINCOLN WENT TO GETTYSBURG, THE U.S. UNION ARMY HAD 200,000 BLACKS SERVING IN THE UNION ARMY. AND THAT HELPS US TO UNDERSTAND WHY LINCOLN WROTE THE ADDRESS HE DID AT GETTYSBURG WHERE HE SAID "FOUR SCORE AND SEVEN YEARS AGO, THIS COUNTRY WAS FOUNDED AND DEDICATED TO THE PROPOSITION THAT ALL MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL." NOTICE, HE DIDN'T QUOTE FROM THE CONSTITUTION. HE QUOTED FROM THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. HE HIGHLIGHTED EQUALITY AS A WAR AIM. HE INFORMED HIS STAFF, ALSO AT THIS TIME, THAT IF IT WEREN'T FOR THESE BLACK MEN IN BLUE, WE WOULD HAVE TO ABANDON THE WAR EFFORT IN THREE WEEKS. THAT IS NOT PROFESSOR TAKAKI SAYING THIS. THIS IS THE COMMANDER IN CHIEF OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY SAYING THAT WE WOULD LOSE THIS WAR. SO THESE BLACK MEN IN BLUE MADE THE DIFFERENCE IN DETERMINING THAT THIS NATION OF THE PEOPLE, BY THE PEOPLE, AND FOR THE PEOPLE DID NOT PERISH FROM THE EARTH. I THINK THIS IS A FACT THAT EVERY AMERICAN SHOULD KNOW BECAUSE YOU REALIZE WHAT A DEBT WE OWE TO ONE ANOTHER, WHAT A DEBT WE OWE TO AFRICAN AMERICANS. WE WOULD NOT BE LIVING IN THIS NATION CALLED THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA HAD IT NOT BEEN FOR THE SACRIFICES OF THESE BLACK MEN IN BLUE BECAUSE THEIR CASUALTY RATES WERE HORRENDOUS. ONE-THIRD OF THEM AFTER THE WAR WERE LISTED AS KILLED OR MISSING IN ACTION. BUT THEY GAVE THEIR LIMBS AND THEIR LIVES IN ORDER TO SAVE THIS UNION. OUT OF THIS CIVIL WAR CAME A NEW NATION, A NATION THAT WAS NO LONGER HALF FREE AND HALF SLAVE, BUT A NEW NATION THAT HAD BEEN REDEDICATED TO THIS PROPOSITION THAT ALL MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL. >>HISTORY SEEMS TO REPEAT ITSELF, AND WE ARE GETTING CURRENT INCIDENTS OF "YELLOW PERIL." WHEN DO YOU THINK THESE OLD SENTIMENTS WILL WITHER ON THE VINE AND PASS AWAY? >>YOU CALL THEM OLD SENTIMENTS, THIS WHOLE IDEA OF THE YELLOW PERIL, AND, YOU KNOW, HERE WE ARE ENTERING INTO TENSIONS WITH CHINA. BEFORE 9-11, CHINA WAS EMERGING AS THE NEW DIABOLICAL NATION. IN FACT, PRESIDENT BUSH WAS SENDING SPY PLANES CLOSE TO CHINA, CONFRONTING CHINA. BUT THEN 9-11 HAPPENED, AND ALL OF A SUDDEN, THE FOCUS SHIFTED AWAY FROM CHINA. BUT, YEAH, THESE OLD SENTIMENTS ARE ALWAYS THERE LURKING IN THE SHADOWS. CHINA, RIGHT NOW, IS EMERGING AS A HIGHLY COMPETITIVE ECONOMIC NATION TO THE UNITED STATES. IN FACT, IT IS ALREADY PREDICTED THAT CHINA WILL BECOME THE NUMBER ONE ECONOMY IN THE 21ST CENTURY. SO I CAN SEE WHERE THESE ECONOMIC RIVALRIES THEN WILL SHAPE POLITICAL RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN THE TWO NATIONS, BUT ALSO WILL SHAPE RELATIONSHIPS OF THE CHINESE AND THEIR GOVERNMENT HERE. CHINESE WORKING FOR THE DEFENSE INDUSTRY WILL BE SCRUTINIZED, OKAY, AND WILL BE SCAPEGOATED AND TARGETED AND UNFAIRLY TREATED. I THINK THIS IS A PROBLEM. THE THING ABOUT THESE OLD SENTIMENTS IS THAT THEY ARE INVOKED AS NEEDED, OKAY. THEY ARE THERE, BUT NOT ALWAYS THERE, BUT THEY ARE INVOKED AS NEEDED. >>THAT'S INTERESTING. ON THE FLIP SIDE OF THAT, HOW DO WE DEAL WITH PLATITUDES LIKE ASIANS OF MODEL MINORITIES? >>OKAY, WHERE DID THIS WHOLE IDEA AS ABOUT ASIAN AMERICANS AS A MODEL MINORITY COME FROM? YOU SEE. IT CAME FROM RONALD REAGAN, 1980'S. REAGAN WAS THE ONE WHO WANTED TO CUT BLACKS OUT OF WELFARE, AND HE HAD ONE OF HIS PUNDITS NAMED CHARLES MURRAY WROTE THIS BOOK "LOSING GROUND" PUBLISHED, IN WHAT, IN 1985, AND THAT BECAME THE SOCIAL BIBLE ON REAGAN'S ATTACK ON THE WELFARE SYSTEM. BUT THINK ABOUT WHAT REAGAN SAID ABOUT THAT SAME TIME, HE DESCRIBED BLACKS ON WELFARE AS THE WELFARE QUEENS. REMEMBER, THE WELFARE QUEENS? HE SAID WHY CAN'T BLACKS BE LIKE ASIAN AMERICANS, THE MODEL MINORITY? THEY DON'T DEPEND ON WELFARE. THEY PULLED THEMSELVES UP BY THEIR BOOT STRAPS. THINK ABOUT THIS IDEA OF ASIAN AMERICANS AS MODEL MINORITY. YOU KNOW, THIS IS LIKE THE PROTESTANT ETHIC. YOU KNOW, YOU DO IT ON YOUR OWN. BUT THE ASIAN AMERICANS THEN FUNCTION, THE IDEOLOGICAL HATCHET MAN FOR WELFARE. BUT THE REALITY IS THAT NOT ALL ASIAN AMERICANS ARE MAKING IT. WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT THE MONG, THE MIEN, THEIR WELFARE RATES ARE 80, 90%, AND PERMANENT UNEMPLOYMENT AND DEPENDENCY ON WELFARE. AND WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT COMPARING WHITE INCOMES WITH ASIAN AMERICAN INCOMES, YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT COMPARING FAMILY INCOMES. WELL, ASIAN AMERICANS HAVE MORE TWO INCOME EARNERS PER FAMILY THAN WHITE FAMILIES. OF COURSE, THEIR INCOMES WILL BE HIGHER THAN WHITE FAMILIES BECAUSE THERE ARE MORE WORKERS PER FAMILIES. PUNDITS LIKE CHARLES MURRAY OVERLOOK THOSE FACTS. BECAUSE THESE FACTS WILL SUPPORT THEIR ASSERTIONS, AND THIS IS WHERE IT IS IMPORTANT TO ASK EPISTEMOLOGICAL QUESTIONS, YOU SEE! WHEN REAGAN ATTACKED WELFARE AND BLAMED BLACKS FOR THEIR POVERTY AND CELEBRATED ASIAN AMERICANS AS A MODERN MINORITY, HE WAS MAKING THESE CLAIMS WITHIN AN ECONOMIC CONTEXT. IN THE U.S., IN THE 1980'S, AMERICAN COMPANIES WERE DEINDUSTRIALIZING. THEY WERE MOVING PLANTS OUT OF THE UNITED STATES INTO FOREIGN COUNTRIES. U.S. AUTO COMPANIES WERE SHUTTING DOWN PLANTS IN DETROIT AND RELOCATING THEM IN MEXICO. SO YOU HAVE THE RISE OF UNEMPLOYMENT IN THE CITIES, AND THIS RISE ESPECIALLY IMPACTED OUR AFRICAN AMERICANS. THEY WERE UNEMPLOYED IN DETROIT, AND THEY FOUND IT DIFFICULT THEN TO FIND NEW JOBS. SAME THING IN SOUTH CENTRAL LOS ANGELES. THE FIRESTONE PLANT HAD A BIG FACTORY IN CENTRAL LOS ANGELES. IT SHUT DOWN. AND TEN THOUSAND BLACKS WHO WERE WORKING AT THE FIRESTONE PLANT, IT SHUT DOWN. OKAY, SO HERE YOU HAVE BLACKS NOW BEING FORCED INTO UNEMPLOYMENT, FORCED INTO POVERTY, AND HERE YOU HAVE THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES SAYING, "OH, IT IS THEIR FAULT. IT IS THEIR FAULT. THEY SHOULD WORK HARD. THEY SHOULD LIFT THEMSELVES UP BY THEIR BOOT STRAPS." BUT POVERTY, YOU KNOW, IS CAUSED BY THE RESTRUCTURING OF THE U.S. ECONOMY BY THE DEINDUSTRIALIZATION OF AMERICA. TODAY WHAT IS HAPPENING WITH POLICY MAKERS, THEY ARE BLAMING ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS FROM MEXICO FOR TAKING JOBS AWAY FROM AFRICAN AMERICANS. BUT THESE AFRICAN AMERICANS HAVE LOST THEIR JOBS BECAUSE OF OUTSOURCING AND SO FORTH, YOU SEE. WE HAVE TO THINK ABOUT THE LARGER PICTURE. SAME THING WITH THESE ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS FROM MEXICO. WHILE I HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY, I HAVE TO GET INTO THIS DEBATE OVER THE ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS. NO ONE IN WASHINGTON IS ASKING WHY IS IT THAT MILLIONS OF MEXICANS ARE LEAVING THEIR HOMELAND AND COMING TO THIS COUNTRY? IF YOU READ MY BOOK, "A DIFFERENT MIRROR," YOU WILL REALIZE THAT IMMIGRANTS ARE PULLED TO THE UNITED STATES BECAUSE OF JOBS, BUT THEY ARE BEING PUSHED OUT OF THEIR HOME LANDS BY POVERTY. SO THESE MEXICANS WHO ARE COMING OVER HERE ARE BEING PUSHED BY POVERTY -- PUSHED OUT OF MEXICO BY POVERTY. AND THE UNITED STATES HAS BEEN CONTRIBUTING TO THIS POVERTY. THE CROSSINGS OF THE BORDER SPIKED UPWARD AFTER 1994. WHAT HAPPENED IN 1994? IN 1994 NAFTA WAS AGREED ON. THE NORTH AMERICAN FREE TRADE AGREEMENT. SO AFTER NAFTA BECAME POLICY, IT WAS POSSIBLE FOR GOVERNMENT SUBSIDIZED CORN TO BE SHIPPED FROM IOWA TO MEXICO, CHEAP CORN, AND THAT BANKRUPTED 1.5 MILLION MEXICAN FARMERS. WHERE ARE THESE FARMERS GOING? THEY ARE GOING TO THE CITIES LIKE MEXICO CITY WHERE UNEMPLOYMENT RATE IS 40%, HIGHER THAN THE UNEMPLOYMENT RATE IN THIS COUNTRY DURING THE GREAT DEPRESSION, AND THEY ARE ALSO COMING NORTHWARD TO WORK IN THE UNITED STATES. SO IF WE REALLY WANT COMPREHENSIVE IMMIGRATION REFORM, I THINK WE HAVE TO REFORM NAFTA. >>IT IS A HUGE CAUSE AND EFFECT, ISN'T IT? >> THIS KIND OF HISTORY THAT THIS MORE INCLUSIVE HISTORY CAN SERVE AS A TIE THAT CAN BIND US TOGETHER. LINCOLN, IN HIS FIRST INAUGURAL ADDRESS, SAID HISTORY CAN OFFER US THE MYSTIC CORDS OF MEMORY. I THINK THIS IS WHAT A MULTICULTURAL INCLUSIVE HISTORY CAN DO. IT CAN OFFER US THESE MYSTIC CORDS OF MEMORY THAT BIND US TO ONE ANOTHER AS A DIVERSE AMERICAN PEOPLE.